Poultry-feeder.



S. A. DRAKE.

POULTRY FEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 4, 1914.

1,1311,&91, Patented Mar.9,1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

S. A. DRAKE.- POULTRY FEEDER. APPLIGATION FILED APR. 4, 1914.

Patented Mar. 9, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

4 ers. of which the following SYLVESTER A. DRAKE, OF JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK.

POULTRY-FEEDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 9, 11915.

Application filed April 4, 1914. Serial No. 829,552.

I}; all 1r]: om it m my concern:

lie it known that I, SvLvns'rnR A. DRAKE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jamestown, in the county of Chautauqua and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Poultry-Feed- 1s a specification. This invention relates to poultry feeders,

and it has for its object to provide a device.

of simple and improved construction Whereby dill'erent varieties of feed, such as fine grits and coarse grain, mash and other coarse leed may be simultaneously fed or supplied and in which provision is made for regulating the supply of the relatively coarse food without affecting the manner in which the relatively fine food is supplied.

A further object of the invention is to provide a feed tray in combination with a hopper which is supported adjustably with respect to said feed tray, simple and improved supporting means being provided whereby the hopper may be adjustably supp rted.

A still further object to provide in connection with the improved teed device a guard whereby access to the feed tray will be partly obstructed to prevent young chicks from jumping into the tray and wasting the food; said guard being dispensed with when the device is used for feeding older fowls.

lVith these and other ends in view which will readily appear-as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the improved construction and novel arrangement and combination of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated asimple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, undersood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of the claims may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawings,Figure lis a perspective view of a device constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan with the lid or cover removed. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 33 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional detail view taken on the line 4-4 in Fig. 3,

of the invention is i the guard device including the bars 21 having been detached. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the tray, detached.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like characters of reference.

1 designates a tray which has been shown as being of circular shape, said tray being provided with a circumferential upstanding flange 2 and with a conical bottom member Supported upon and extending upwardly from the conical bottom portion are upstanding wall members 4 constituting partitions which cooperate with the hopper to be presently described to form two or more compartments 5, 6, the latter being much the largest. The wall members 4 which are radially disposed with respect to the bottom member are provided at their lower ends with flanges constituting partitions 7which are of a height corresponding with that of the flange 2 with which they are connected.

The wall members 4 are slightly tapered in an upward direction to correspond with a slightly tapered hopper 8 which surrounds said wall members and which is supported a short distance above the tray. The latter is provided with-upwardly extending rods 9 having at their upper ends plates 10, each of which is provided with a plurality of perforations 11 adapted to engage pins 12 which extend inwardly from the wall of the hopper. The latter may thus be .supported at various distances above the tray, and the distance may be quickly and easily varied by shifting the relative positions of the pins 12 and the perforated plates 10. The rods 9 are of a resilient nature so that the perforated plates may be readily sprung into and out" of engagement with the pins 12. The hopper is provided adjacent to its lower edge with notches l3 engaging the flanges or partitions 7, so that the latter will not interfere with the vertical adjustment of the hopper, which latter may be lowered until the lower edge thereof is nearly or quite in contact with the tray. It is obvious that by such adjustment the passage of material from the compartments of the hopper in the direction of the flange 2 of the tray may be regulated or entirely obstructed, as may be desired.

The walls or partition members at are provided at their outer edges with flanges 14: which are formed by bending the outer portions of said partition members at an obtuse angle to the radial portions of said partition members. The latter, being usually and preferably constructed of sheet metal having a certain degree of inherent resiliency, it follows that the outer edges of the flanges will abut upon the inner face of'the wall of the hopper in various positions of the latter, thus causing the walls or partition members 4 in connection with the wall of the hopper to form the compartments 5 and 6 hereinbefore referred to. It is obvious that in order to secure the best results, the taper of the hopper and the wall members 4 should be very slight; when such is the ease the flanges of the wall members will engage the wall-of the hopper sufliciently close to cause material placed in the various compartments to be retained therein, edge of the hopper and the bottom of the tray, the object being simply to keep the contents of the several compartments separated.

The smaller compartments 5 are intended to contain relatively fine feed, such as grits and the like, while the other compartments may contain coarse feed, such as grain, mash, chopped vegetables or the like. In order to prevent the relatively fine material from being supplied too rapidly when the hopper is ad usted for coarse feed, the flanges or partitions 7 are connected together by bridge pieces 15 which are spaced the desired distance above the bottom of the tray, said bridge pieces being curved to conform with the contour of the hopper.

The hopper is provided with a tightly fitting lid 16, and it has a bail 17 whereby it maybe carried, said bail being formed with a ring or eye 18 with which a rope or cord may be connected for the purpose of suspending the feeding device in a slightly elevated position above the ground, thereby preventing the access thereto of dirt and vermin.

A guard is provided which is composed of two rings or hoops 19, 20 encircling respectively, the hopper 8 and the flange 2, said hoops being connected together by spacing rods 21. This guard when applied to the feeding device is detachably supported upon the flange 2 of the tray with which the spacing rods 21 contact. When thus applied, young chickens that are being fed Wlll be kept spaced apart and will also be pre-- vented from jumping into the tray and wasting the feed. When the device is used for feeding older chickens the guard may be detached.

This improved device is simple in construction, and it has been found very convenient for feeding the various kinds of food the corresponding taper of except as it feeds between the lower with which chickens should be supplied. The fine and the coarse food may be placed in the respective compartments, and the hopper may be adjusted to regulate the supply of even the coarsest kind of food without interfering with the regular discharge of the relatively fine food material. Owing to its simplicity the cost of construction is slight, and it may be easily kept in a clean and sanitary condition.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. In a device of the class described, a tray having an upstanding circumferential flange and a conical bottom portion, radially disposed wall members rising from the trayand provided at their lower ends'with extended flange portions connected with the circumferential upstanding flange and forming partitions, bridge members connecting said partitions, a hopper having notches at its lower edge engaging the partitions, and means for supporting the hopper at various adjustments with respect to the tray.

2. In a device of the class described, a tray having wall members rising therefrom, resilient rods extending upwardly from the tray and provided with apertured plates at their upper ends, and a hopper having inwardly extending pins engaging the apertured plates.

3. In a device of the class described, a tray having upstanding wall members tapered upwardly and provided at their outer edges with flanges formed at an obtuse angle thereto, a slightly tapering hopper interlorly engaged by the flanges of the wall members, and means for supporting the hopper adjustably with reference to the tray.

4. In a device of the class described, a tray having a circumferential upstanding flange, wall members rising from the tray and having flanges connected with the upstanding flange and forming partitions, bridge members connecting the partitions and spaced, above the bottom of the tray, a hopper having notches at its lower edge ongaging the partitions, means for supporting the hopper adjustably with respect to the tray, a lidfor the hopper, and a guard comprising two hoops encircling, respectively, the hopper and the upstanding flange of the tray, and spacing bars connecting said hoops, said guard being detachably supported on the tray.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SYLVESTER A. DRAKE.

Witnesses: i

WILLIAM B. CoNRoY, EDWARD L. BUCHANAN. 

